Starter issue

[macminn18]

I made my first starter last night for an IPA I'm brewing this afternoon. I have a 1L beaker, boiled 1,000 ml water to 100 grams DME. Cooled it, pitched the yeast, woke up this morning and the sponge stopper was dislodged, kreusen down the side of the beaker.

Is my starter still ok? I sprayed the side of the beaker with star san, gently pushed the stopper back in.

 

[d3track]

Should be ok. Fercap is nice for these reasons.

 

[billl]

It happens. No worries. If you are regularly going to make 1L starters, you'll probably want to get a bigger flask. Also, if you are pushing the size limits, a couple drops of FermCap dramatically reduces foaming and spillovers like that.

 

[mauer_62]

time to get a larger flask. as long as you star san it i would expect it to be good

 

[j1n]

use fermcaps for anti foaming. works great for starters. can boil water and DME in the flask without boil overs and dont have to worry bout krausen.

Also yes your starter is fine

 

[macminn18]

Thanks all for the reassurance. Yes, bigger flask for sure for next time.

 

[JonM]

FWIW, if you're getting a bigger flask, Cynmar has 2L, heavy duty, wide mouth Erlenmeyers for the same $20 they charge for student grade, narrow mouth flasks at the LHBS.

 

[cannman]

Bigger flask YES!

But until then, consider going with some foil:

Just sanitize it. If the yeast push the foil up to release pressure, you'll find that the edges of the foil keep the mouth covered, still allowing a semi seal and no opening to the air above. Foil hasn't failed me yet, even with some blow-offs...

 

[JonM]

Oh, and it helps to put the stir plate on a jelly roll pan - the mess is contained in the event of a blowoff.

 

[bragona71]

get a 2l flask!! we all have had this happen, it means your yeasties are awake and ready to make beer out of wort! its a good thing

 

[DurtyChemist]

Make smaller starters, pick a different yeast, use fear cap (I never have) or just go to a 2L flask. My suggestion would be a 2L flask or 750mL starters for the extra headspace. Try making a 1L starter with a Belgian yeast and see what happens. You'll have just as much yeast outside the flask as in.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Using the same amount of malt extract and a little less water will yield the same final cell count. The final ABV is what really limits the starting gravity when starting with a a large amount of yeast, as is done in a starter. You could do 100g in 700ml which is about 12°P and will end at about 5%ABV. That's still a reasonable gravity for a starter.